Even The Best Need A Little Help Sometimes
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: It's true. :) Done as a request for Guestspirit. :)


**Guestspirit, who owns Gin and Shooting Star, asked for this one. Here you go, Amigo! Enjoy! :) **

**Skylanders belongs to Activision. I only own Rachel and Autumn.**

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**Even The Best Need A Little Help Sometimes**

Gin sighed, trying to hold onto his patience, though that was getting a bit hard. "Star, I know you feel you don't need it, but you really do need some help with refining your attacks," he told the stubborn Imaginator.

"No way," she said. "I'm good at what I do. And I can make special moves unique to me."

"I'm not saying you can't," he said gently. "But you really do need some help."

She scoffed. "Nope, I'm good," she said before heading off. "Fly my stars!"

The male Air Portal Master sighed. "Well, at least she stayed in one spot to hear me out," he said as he looked to see the female Imaginator heading towards the Cradle Of Creation.

Shooting Star, who had a body that looked like it was made out of stars and a bow that looked like it was made of clouds, was of the Bowslinger Imaginator Class, but she refused to learn from any of the three Bowslinger Senseis. And while she could do attacks well, as Gin had pointed out, they needed refinement. Sighing again, he headed away, spotting Rachel and Autumn nearby with Ambush and Ro-Bow.

The Tech Portal Master was doing a sword kata with Ambush, mimicking his moves step by step while the young Magic Imaginator was learning a new technique from Ro-Bow. Gin stepped closer to listen as the robot bowslinger spoke to the little one.

"Alright, to pull off the special manuever, you have to angle your bow and arrow just right," Ro-Bow said. "Are you paying attention, Autumn?"

"Yes, Uncle Ro-Bow," the little one said with a nod.

"Good," he said. "Now, place one foot firmly in front of the other in a wide stance."

Autumn did as she was told, though her stance was a little too wide. Ro-Bow smiled. "Bring your front foot back a bit," he said gently.

She corrected her stance. "Like this?" She asked.

"Yes, now bring your back foot out a bit to your right."

The Imaginator did so, seeing how this was not only a comfortable stance, but she now had her balance. Ro-Bow nodded. "Alright, now lean back as if you're going to do a backflip but stop halfway," he said.

Carefully, Autumn leaned back until she was exactly halfway between either straightening up or completing the backflip. "Good," Ro-Bow said, pleased. "Now, aim."

The girl placed her arrow at the ready in her bow, pulling back the bowstring until it was taunt. Ro-Bow kneeled down beside the young girl, placing a hand on her back. "Up a little," he said and she did so. "Chin parallel to the arrow."

Autumn moved her head until her chin was parallel to the arrow that was ready to fly and Ro-Bow nodded. "Alright, now," he said.

The Magic Imaginator let the arrow fly and to her delight, it split into many different arrows, landing around her in a circular pattern and exploding moments later. "I did it!" She cheered happily, getting both her mother's and uncle Ambush's attentions. "I did it!"

"That you did, little one. Good job," Ro-Bow said, looking pleased as punch.

Autumn turned to her mother and Life uncle, who had paused at the young girl's shout. "Mommy! Uncle Ambush! Did you see me?" She asked excitedly.

"We sure did, sweetie," Rachel said, proud of her daughter.

"Excellent job, little one," Ambush said with a smile.

Gin smiled and Ro-Bow noticed him. "Ah, hello, Gin," he said as Rachel and Ambush finished the kata and turned to greet the male Air Portal Master.

"Hey, Gin, what's going on?" Rachel asked him.

"Well, my new Imaginator...is really stubborn," he said with a sigh. "She feels like she doesn't need training from the Bowslinger Senseis because she's good at her attacks, which she is, but they need refinement."

"Ah, her attacks are 'raw', for lack of a better term, at best?" Ambush asked.

"That's one way to put it," Gin said with a nod. "I tried talking to her, but to no avail. She did at least stay put and hear me out, but she scoffed at the idea of having to learn from a master."

Autumn frowned. "But how is she going to get better and learn new ways to do her attacks if she doesn't learn from the Senseis?" She asked. "I'm still learning my bowslinger attacks and Uncle Ro-Bow, Uncle Buckshot, and Uncle Wolfgang have been teaching me for a while now."

"And you've improved greatly, little one," Ro-Bow said proudly. "Hmm, what makes this new Imaginator of yours feel she doesn't need training, Gin? And what is her name?"

"Her name is Shooting Star," Gin replied. "She's got a body that looks like it was made out of stars, hence her name, and she's got a bow that looks like it was made out of clouds."

"Sounds cool," Rachel said.

"Hmm, forgive me, Gin, but it sounds like Shooting Star might be headstrong because she hasn't faced a difficult foe before," Ambush said.

"She hasn't," Gin said. "I haven't let her do the arena battles, though she has succeeded mostly in doing the surprise attacks."

"But raw power along isn't going to help her if she faces an enemy that is tough," Rachel said. "Like the huge armored sheep. Those creeps aren't easy to battle and it takes a lot of hits."

"True," Ro-Bow said. "Perhaps we can talk to her."

Gin shrugged. "Good luck," he said. "If you guys can get through to her, it'll be great."

But sadly, the four hadn't had much luck. Shooting Star turned down their advice, even telling Autumn that she was too little to really understand. "I don't need any training," she said.

"Shooting Star, your stubborness will be your undoing someday," Ambush said gently.

"He's right," Rachel said. "At least attend a few classes. It couldn't hurt."

"I'd be willing to have you partake in my class," Ro-Bow offered.

Shooting Star scoffed. "Thanks, but no thanks," she said before pausing and turning to them. "Though...I might watch your class sometime, Ro-Bow."

With that, she headed off and they all looked at each other. "Well, at least we succeeded halfway," Rachel said. "But I guess Shooting Star is just going to have to decide for herself."

"I think you're right," Ambush said with a nod.

"Well, we'll give her time," Ro-Bow said as he scooped up Autumn, who giggled as she held onto his shoulders and the group headed back for the Academy.

Gin wasn't happy about hearing that Shooting Star had turned them down too, but he did agree with Rachel about the Imaginator having to decide for herself. "I hope she does before it's too late," he said.

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Two days later, they were all resting by the Academy when Shooting Star came up to them, looking really upset. "Shooting Star, what's wrong?" Gin asked.

"I lost," she said angrily, plopping down on a rock. "I was battling those rats that grow huge when eating that green cheese and I kept hitting them with my attacks, but they hardly seemed fazed!"

Ambush and Ro-Bow looked at each other. "Why wouldn't they have been fazed?" The Bowslinger Sensei asked. "From what I heard, your attacks are quite good."

"They are!" The Imaginator said in frustration. "So why did I lose?!"

Ambush gently cleared his throat. "Perhaps your attacks...weren't as refined as they could have been," he said gently. "Attacks must be clear and concise when dealing with those rats and even the giant sheep."

Shooting Star looked really crushed and looked away, feeling upset. Gin looked at his Imaginator and placed a hand on her shoulder. "SS, even the best need a little help sometimes," he said. "Even I do, and I'm a Portal Master."

"He's right," Rachel said with a nod. "I've been a Portal Master for almost five years, but I'm still in training. I'm nowhere near done learning about the Tech element, though that is my main element."

"And while I'm a good bowslinger, I'm still learning," Autumn said. "I even still struggle with my special maneuver."

"I learned from a great master myself for almost two hundred years before perfecting the art of being a Knight Sensei," Ambush said gently. "And I still learn something new from Rachel at times."

The girl looked at him in surprise. "You do?" She asked curiously.

"Yes," he said, ruffling her hair in affection. "Remember that manuever you tried the other day and succeeded in knocking my sword from my hand?"

"Well, yeah," she said. "I was trying a manuever you had taught me, but I did it backwards by mistake."

"However, it was effective and one I hadn't thought to try before," he said. "You taught me a new manuever to work on in the process."

"Huh, never thought of it that way," she admitted before perking up. "You know, one of my teachers once mentioned that just as a student learns from a teacher, the teacher can learn from the student as well."

"That's the truth," Ro-Bow said. "Your daughter Autumn has taught me a few manuevers herself."

The little Imaginator blushed. "Well, I was more messing around," she admitted.

"But the manuevers worked just as well," the Bowslinger Sensei said with a smile.

Shooting Star listened in surprise at hearing that two masters had learned new manuevers from their students, students who were still learning. She looked at Ro-Bow, who noticed and smiled. "You know, perhaps you can teach me, Buckshot, and Wolfgang your manuevers and in return, we can help you refine your moves," he suggested. "I must admit that I'm interested to see what moves you have."

She looked at him, seeming to perk up at that. "You...You really want to see my manuevers?" She asked.

"Sure," he said, smiling again. "From what Gin has said, you're pretty good, Shooting Star."

Autumn perked up. "Mommy, could I watch Shooting Star too?" She asked.

"Sure, honey, if it's okay with her and your uncles," Rachel said with a smile before looking at Shooting Star. "You know, it's quite an honor to have a Master Bowslinger interested in seeing some new techniques and to have the daughter of a Portal Master wanting to possibly learn from you too."

Shooting Star seemed to give that some thought before she smiled with a nod. "Okay," she said. "Maybe I could use a little help with my manuevers." She turned to Gin. "Gin, would you come watch? You too, Rachel?"

"Sure," the Tech Portal Master said in agreement.

"I wouldn't miss that," Gin said with a nod.

They all headed for the training room and found Wolfgang and Buckshot already there and as Shooting Star followed Ro-Bow up to the other two, Rachel and Gin, along with Autumn, found good seats nearby to watch. The Tech Portal Master turned to her friend. "See? She just needed the right nudge," she said.

"Yeah," he said. "Thanks for helping her see that she needed this."

"Well, I can't take all the credit," she said with a smile. "We all pitched in to convince her."

He nodded as they turned their attention back to the four in the middle of the training room and Shooting Star took the stage, ready to truly shine.

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**GoldGuardian2418 **


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